Defensive Record

Arsenal looks much stronger at the back than it did last season. Laurent Koscielny has blossomed into a great defender. His partnership with Thomas Vermaelen has been a welcomed change in defense.

Wojciech Szczesny has also returned confidence to Gooners with some fantastic goal-keeping displays. Arsenal's defensive problems have mainly been in the full-back positions.

During the summer transfer window, Arsene Wenger opted to sell Gael Clichy and Emmanuel Eboue. Clichy had been a fixture at left-back for the Gunners since the 2006-2007 season.

In Emmanuel Eboue, Wenger sold his most qualified right-back behind Bacary Sagna. To replace the departed full-backs, Wenger brought in Andre Santos and Carl Jenkinson.

Santos was brought in from Turkish Champions Fenerbahce to replace Clichy. In his time at the Emirates, Santos has put in some interesting performances.

The Brazilian is a fantastic standing-tackler. He makes gut-busting runs down the left flank and loves to attack the opponent's box. At the same time, he has the tendency be caught out of position, which has been cause for concern.

Carl Jenkinson was signed from Charlton Athletic after making just nine appearances for Charlton in the span of six months.

Jenkinson has shown some promise, but injuries and a lack of experience have led to a rough start for 19-year-old.

Arsenal need to strengthen their defense. The Gunners have conceded 23 goals, which is the fifth most in the Premier League.

Goal Differential

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At the end of last season, Arsenal had a positive goal differential of 29, which was the third highest in the Premier League.

Arsenal currently sits at seventh in the Premier League with a positive goal differential of three. This statistic, while often unimportant, does prove that Arsenal are struggling to secure convincing wins.

Arsenal has not had that special game. The Gunners haven't had the game that announces to the league "We are here and we are going to compete."

Their most convincing wins have been against Bolton and West Brom. Both of those teams currently find themselves in the relegation zone.

If Arsenal is to reach its potential, the club needs to start beating its weaker opponents in a more convincing fashion.

Individual Result: Arsenal 1, Fulham 1

Fulham is a strong Premier League team that doesn't roll over easily to their opponents. But this is still a fixture that Arsenal should have won.

The Cottagers scored from nowhere when left-back John Riise burst forward to cause chaos in the Arsenal penalty box.

The Norwegian International made a great forward run. Danny Murphy crossed the ball from the right flank into the chest of Riise and Thomas Vermaelen was unlucky to curl the ball into his own net.

The lapse in defense was due to poor defending from Theo Walcott and Johan Djourou.

Although Vermaelen would make up for his misfortune with a well-taken header in the 82nd minute, the Gunners were unable to come away with all three points.

The defensive lapse that led to Fulham gaining a 1-0 lead is just one of the many clear signs that the Gunners are still struggling defensively. Their defense is shaky and vulnerable to any unorthodox attack.

Arsenal Bench

It could be argued that the most underachieving cog in the Arsenal machine has been the play of the club's bench. This means you, Andrey Arshavin and Marouane Chamakh.

The Arsenal bench has looked absolutely hopeless. Andrey Arshavin has yet to look interested in a Premier League match this season.

The Russian has been dreadful and there are no signs that this dismal trend will soon end. Aside from his goal against Barcelona in February, which he took very well, the Russian has had an incredibly poor year.

Chamakh has looked as useless as Arshavin. The striker looks depleted of confidence and creativity. The Moroccan had once showed promise, but even that has now vanished.

The only player to come off of the bench and make an impact all season was Robin Van Persie. Arsene Wenger chose to sit the club captain against Stoke City.

The score was level in the 67th minute and Wenger decided that it might be a good idea to bring on the Dutchman.

Van Persie then scored two goals in the span of nine minutes to help his team secure a 3-1 victory.

In the Premier League, sometimes good teams need to fall back on to their bench. Unfortunately, Arsenal has been unable to do so this season.